The True Meaning Of Family
by KungFuPandaFanatic
Summary: They were only known as outcasts and freaks at the orphanage, no one saw them for who they truly were deep down inside. That is until though he came along and changed their lives forever.


The valley of peace, when one ventures through it they see the brightest of things. They see people who are all smiling and laughing, they see children playing all sorts of games with their friends, you see so many kind people its unreal. But what they don't see is the darker side of this valley, though it's not directly in it, this place lies on the outskirts of the valley, somewhat anyways. The place that's known as the Bao gu orphanage. Now I'm not saying this place is evil, for it really isn't, but I'm not calling it a place of happiness either. For inside there are many children whose hearts lay empty and cold, though a lot of them try and act like everything is ok, they feel a pain of hate and sorrow to those who left them there without a word. But these children act out and hurt others through words and fists some are hurt so bad they cry themselves to sleep. Some or I should say two, are the most picked on in this place. One is called a monster due to what she is, and the other is called a worthless and fat, due to what he is. That is where this story picks up, for as we enter the orphanage, we can hear shouting of words and the hurry of feet running across the floor. We see a pair of golden eyes as well as a pair of jade green eyes light up the shadows they running in.

"Come on Po, we are almost there." The one with golden eyes said who sounded feminine. As the two continued running for what seemed like their lives, they came rushing into a room that was all tore up and had a metal door.

One they entered, they came into the light, as the one with the golden eyes was a small south Chinese tiger who wore a red tunic with black sweats and the one with the jade green eyes was a small round panda.

"Close it Tigress!" The panda shouted with a deep tone addressing the tiger in front of him, and the tiger did what the panda asked. As she slammed the door shut and locked it. Once they did, they could hear loud banging on the other end of the door with voices of different ranges shouting "You Two are lucky!" and "You can't hide in there forever!" or "You two will never adopted!" before too long the banging had ceased as well as the venomous words, all became quite.

"Phew, that was close." The panda said, before he lay on the ground breathing heavily.

"No doubt it was Po." Tigress said as she addressed the little panda before sitting up on a small bed.

Now before we continue on, I bet you all are wandering who exactly this Po and Tigress is? Why exactly were they running? And why were such words being thrown at them? Well, let's start with Tigress. As about 5 years ago, she was dropped off at the orphanage by her parents when she was just a small baby cub. She never knew why they did what they did, nor did she know what they looked like, she didn't dwell on it too much though. Anyways, at first everybody including the adults loved her she was so small and innocent. But the more she grew the more fearful everyone became of her, they started calling her names like monster and other things, they shunned her and locked her up in a special room when they believed she was attacking, what she called it was playing. They feared her claws and teeth, no one ever got close to her, until Po came into the picture. Now Po like Tigress was dropped off at the orphanage, he doesn't know by whom though, all he could remember was soft soothing words that were saying "Please be safe my little Po." Over and over again, he believed it was mom saying such words, but he still isn't sure. He was left a t the orphanage about 4 years, just a year right after Tigress was. And like the feline, Po was ridiculed by the features he was born with. As the children would call him a fat useless panda and bully him day and night. And it was through by being bullied and hurt, the panda and tiger had found one another, they too each other under the others wing. Po didn't see Tigress as a monster, but as his big sister, and Tigress didn't see Po as a fat panda but as her little brother. Now that you know about these two, let's continue were we left off.

As the panda and tiger tried to slow down their breathing as well as their hearts, Po had lifted his back up from the ground and sat up before looking over at Tigress.

"Want to play some checkers sis?" Po asked with a smile on his face causing the tiger to smile back and leap off the bed.

"Sure bro," Tigress said, before she reached under the bed and grabbed a square box to which she pulled out a bag of red and black checkers along with a board.

"Do you want to be black or red Po?" Tigress asked after she placed the checker board on the ground and emptied the bag of checkers.

"Black please," Po replied before he began to set up his checkers along with Tigress.

Once the board was set, the two began their game of checkers. Some think of checkers as a game of competition, not to Po and Tigress though. To them it was a game of relaxation and of peace. As the two moved their pieces around the board, trying to figure out the others move, Po spoke up.

"Hey Ti, can ask you something?" Po said after he had moved a checker piece.

"Sure Po, ask anything," Tigress said with softness as she looked over at her brother.

"Do you think they are right?" Po said as he formed a frown.

"Right about what, Po?" Tigress asked, not sure what her brother was talking about.

"About me being a fat and stupid panda?" Po said as water began to fill his eyes and his paws began to turn to fists. Seeing this, Tigress got up and sat herself next to Po.

"Of course I don't, you are nothing of the sort," Tigress stated softly, wrapping her arms around the sad panda.

"But what if I am, what if I'm the reason we haven't got adopted? I'm so sorry Tigress." That did it, Po couldn't it back any longer and he began to sob as the tears began to fall from his face, as he began to cry.

"But it's not your fault Po, if it's anyone's fault it's mine. I know what the adults think of me." Tigress said as she held her brother tight and began to cry as well. For whenever it was time for adopting, Tigress always heard the remarks about her, how she is a monster who will destroy anything but also heard what the adults said about Po, how they say his mouth is like feeding 3 children or how he would eat the furniture. Oh how she hated them when they said such things about him and her.

"But I know there is somewhere out there who will love us Po, there has to be." Tigress sobbed as the brother and sister let their tears flow onto each other, holding another in a loving embrace. Hoping and praying to the gods above, someone would come and treat them and love them for who they were.

Little did they know though, their prayers may just be answered sooner than they think. As over in the valley of peace lived an old grey gooses. The people called him Mr. Ping he was the owner of a most famous noodle shop called Mr. Pings. It was known throughout the land that he had the best noodle soup and dumplings you could ever ask for. Though his business was thriving, Mr. Ping felt an empty hole in his heart, something no amount of money or food could fill, he wanted a family. He had tried his luck with the ladies a lot, but he had never found that special person, shattering his dreams of becoming a husband or a father, but on this day, he may find an alternative to his dilemma and broken heart.

After the gray goose was done making an order of noodle soup and a plate of warm dumplings, he left the kitchen as he was wearing a red robe with a hat on his head in the shape of a noodle bowl and he had brown eyes as well.

"Here you go Dai," Mr. Ping said with a smile on his face as he placed the food on a table and looked at a pig who was wearing a blue robe, he was a close friend of Mr. Ping.

"Thank you Ping, but do you think you have a minute," Dai asked causing the goose to look around to make sure the rest of his customers were all settled and didn't need anything. After making sure, he looked at Dai and said "Sure, I got a minute." And sat down at the table.

"I hope I'm not pushing into your personal life here Ping, but you know just because you can't find a mate doesn't mean you can't be a father," Dai said with seriousness causing the goose's eyes to widen a little.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well there is always adopting you know," Dai suggested, making Mr. Ping ponder over the suggestion.

"I have thought about that, but what if I do adopt a child, what if they are sad to come home and see no mother waiting with open arms," Mr. Ping said with a sad expression on his face.

"Well even so, I bet that child will be happy to know that somebody loves them and would do anything for them. We have been friends a long time now, and I know you will be a great father. And who knows maybe along down the road they will have a mom, life is like that Ping, it's full of wanders and surprises," Dai said with a smile on his face as he began to eat his food. And while he was, Ping couldn't help but find himself deep in his friend's words.

For the rest of day he pondered the thought of adopting a child, he knew that if he did, his life would change forever, but he also knew it was an adventure that he would always be there for, no matter what. And it was that night he talked to himself about the idea, he thought about all the new things that would be on the horizon, he thought about protecting something only he could protect, something he would always love and cherish and after lots of thinking, he smiled wide and said "I'll do it." And with hat he went to sleep into peaceful dreams. Morning had come just as quickly as night came and with a big yawn Mr. Ping got dressed in his usual attire minus the hat and headed out for the one place he only knew where to go, the Bao Gu orphanage. Speaking of which, Po had let out a soft yawn and opened his droopy eyes.

"Morning already." the panda said as he stretched out his and arms legs only to find with surprise Tigress curled up next to him. Seeing this made him smile and gently nudge her.

"Hey sis, time to get up," Po said softly as he continued to nudge her, the tiger only groaned and responded with "5 more minutes." This made Po giggle before nudging the tiger again, causing her to wake up and rub her eyes.

"You never let me sleep in." Tigress said with groan before letting out a yawn and standing to her feet. As she then helped her brother to his feet. The tiger then unlocked the door and looked outside to see if anybody is waiting for them.

"It's clear, come on, lets go get some breakfast," Tigress said as she gently opened the door and held Po's paw, not wanting to take any chances. After reaching a little dining hall, the tow got some cereal and began to eat. Once they finished eating, they along with the rest of the children went out into the main hall and began to play. It was at that time Mr. Ping had walked in.

"Greetings Mr. Ping, what are you doing here?" An elderly sheep asked who was wearing a green robe.

"Well you could say I'm looking for a new adventure, I'm here to adopt," He said with a smile on his face.

"Well the children are playing right now as you can see, but you are free to go look around and see if anyone grabs your heart," The sheep said with a soft smile on her face.

"Thank you." Mr. Ping said before he entered the cluster of kids. As he began to look around, his heart filled with joy to see all the kids laughing and smiling, some even asked him why he was there and he told them. Some even started yelling "Pick me!" and all sorts, hearing all this made Po look at the goose.

"Who is that?" Po asked curiously causing Tigress to do the same.

"I'm not sure Po, probably looking to adopt one of us," Tigress said in a sad tone feeling her heart being tugged, she knew better not to get her hopes up.

"Maybe he will pick us Ti," Po said with a hopeful heart, no matter times he was denied by adults he always felt hope whenever he saw one, feeling maybe this one will be different.

"Don't get your hopes up Po," Tigress said before she rolled a little blue to the panda, who caught it.

AS Mr. Ping continued to look at the little tikes, he still didn't feel that connection yet, fearing he may never be a dad. But as he looked up, he saw this panda and tiger, and when he saw them, he felt something in his chest, he felt his heart become warm and soft.

"Could they be?" Mr. Ping said with a warm smile before he walked over to the two causing them to stop and look up at the grey old goose.

"Hello there little ones, my names Mr. Ping, what's yours," He asked softly, making Po and Tigress look at each other and back up at this Mr. Ping.

"Well my names Po and this is my sister Tigress," Po said before he pointed to himself and Tigress.

"She's your sister?" Mr. Ping asked, a little confused by the panda's words.

"Yes I am, got a problem with that," Tigress asked with a glare, causing the goose to giggle.

"Not at all, I find it rather splendid actually. May I join you?" He asked, now Po and Tigress were a little shocked to say the least, not once have they ever encountered someone so considerate and well nice.

"Ummmm, sure," Tigress said before Mr. Ping sat down to which Tigress rolled the ball to him making him roll it to Po.

"So why are you two all over here by yourselves? If I may ask," Mr. Ping said.

"Well, Mr. Ping, me and my brother aren't exactly welcomed. We kind of are like the outcasts in here," Tigress replied sadly with a frown as did Po.

"For you see, because I'm a tiger, people fear me and call me a monster and they call my brother fat just because he is a panda." Mr. Ping couldn't help but gasp at what he was hearing; he couldn't believe someone would treat someone so coldly just because they were different.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, people shouldn't judge others by who they are, but by what they do. I can tell just by looking at you two, you just want to feel loved, you want to have a place to call home, a place where you feel safe," Mr. Ping said softly before he stood up and reached his feathers out.

"And if you would give me the chance, I would like to be that person to give you all those things and much more. I know that it's hard to trust a stranger, but I promise you I will love and I will be there for you as any father would for his children," As they heard Mr. Pings words, water began to fill the two's eyes, they knew what he was saying was all true and before long, they jumped up and latched onto the old goose, sobbing onto his clothes and fur.

"Shhhh it's ok Po, its ok Tigress, Daddy's got you and he isn't ever going to let you go," Mr. Ping said softly as he hugged his two children tightly and rubbed his head against theirs. What came from their mouths next, made the old goose's heart fill with love and warmth but also some sorrow as they said "Daddy, you finally found us." It was then that Po and Tigress had a family, a true family. And with the sighing of some papers, their life's forever changed, as they became the Po Ping and Tigress Ping, the great son and daughter of Mr. Ping.

**Epilogue**

Over the years, both Po and Tigress became masters in the noodle making business, making their father very proud of them. But what's more is that over time all three of the Pings had found their eternal love, Po had found a nice and sweet snow leopard, Tigress had found a strong and handsome as well as a nice jaguar, and as for Mr. Ping he had finally found that lucky lady of his, she was a goose like him but certainly gave him a run for his money when too came to cooking. In the end though, everyone was happy, and Po and Tigress always thanked their dad for bringing them home, for it was thanks to his love and open arms, they became the people they are today.

**Hope you guys liked this story, just wanted to try something different and have Po and Tigress be adopted by Mr. Ping, sorry if it sucks. But Shout to ShadowTeenGirl! She helped me a lot with this story with ideas as well as the Title and description! **


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